What to Watch this Weekend: At long last, Eddie Murphy returns to Saturday Night Live

EW Staff

We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Facebook Watch, and others. So EW is here to help, guiding you every single day to the things that should be on your radar. Check out our recommendations below, and click here to learn how you can stream our picks via your own voice-controlled smart-speaker (Alexa, Google Home) or podcast app (Spotify, iTunes, Google Play).

FRIDAY

The Two Popes

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Netflix

Anthony Hopkins is Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce is the future Pope Francis in this intimate Oscar contender, which follows the odd-couple clergymen as they meet, amid a raging scandal, to discuss the Catholic Church’s future. Francis, then known as Cardinal Bergoglio, is a sharp critic of and marked contrast to the traditionally-minded Benedict, who wants the reluctant Argentinian to succeed him in the papacy. Hopkins, Pryce, and director Fernando Meirelles bring the holy men down to earth for a talky yet thoughtful drama that, as EW’s Leah Greenblatt puts it, “works with wit and quiet humor to demystify perhaps the most powerful and insular post in the world.” —Tyler Aquilina

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The Aeronauts

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

The Aeronauts reunites The Theory of Everything stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones for a sky-high adventure that relies heavily on their sparkling chemistry, mostly set as it is in a basket dangling thousands of feet in the air. The duo play real-life 1800s scientist James Glaisher and his fictional co-pilot Amelia Wren, who embark on a death-defying journey to study Earth’s weather patterns while venturing higher than ever before in a 90-foot air balloon. The production actually sent Redmayne and Jones 8,000 feet up to capture some of the film’s stunning vista — which, naturally, didn’t make for the easiest shoot. But the result is a film that, as Jones told EW, combines “fantastic action sequences, telling a story on a huge scale, and having intimate scenes and a moving story about two people within such a huge fantastical context.” —Tyler Aquilina

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The Witcher

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Netflix

Series Debut
Netflix’s first major fantasy series and potential successor to Game of Thrones stars Henry Cavill (Mission: Impossible — Fallout) as Geralt of Rivia, a lone monster-hunter for hire with supernatural abilities. There’s also sorceress-in-training Yennifer (Sherwood’s Anya Chalotra) and imperiled young princess Ciri (newcomer Freya Allan), who come together to form an unlikely family of sorts in a land beset by beasts — of the exotic creature and human variety. “He’s not your average hero,” Cavill has said of his character. “He’s a tough person who won’t treat everybody perfectly. He’s very hard on the exterior because that’s what he believes the world is… and all the decisions get him into trouble.” Meanwhile, “Yennefer is on a journey of self-discovery,” Chalotra has said. “We look at her power and also her vulnerabilities, which make her a true survivor… She’s on a quest to find unconditional love.” —James Hibberd

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What Else to Watch

Streaming
Pick of the Litter (series debut) — Disney+
Togo (movie) — Disney+
The World According to Jeff Goldblum — Disney+
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series — Disney+
For All Mankind (season finale) — Apple TV+
The Morning Show (season finale) — Apple TV+
Servant — Apple TV+
Truth Be Told — Apple TV+
Harley Quinn — DC Universe

Check local listings
Lidia Celebrates America: The Return of the Artisans — PBS

8 p.m.
Celebrating Marvel’s Stan Lee — ABC
The Christmas Temp — Lifetime
Global Citizen Prize — NBC

10 p.m.
Van Helsing (season finale) — Syfy

11 p.m.
Trending Fear (series debut) — Travel Channel

SATURDAY

Saturday Night Live

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 11:30 p.m. on NBC

“I’m down for whatever, as long as it’s really really funny.” Words to celebrate from Eddie Murphy, talking to Today’s Al Roker this week about his return to Saturday Night Live, which he’s hosting this weekend for the third time with musical guest Lizzo. It’s been more than three decades since the Dolemite Is My Name star last appeared on the show, where he became famous for characters including Buckwheat, Gumby, and Mister Robinson, his parody of Mister Rogers. And if everything works out, we could be seeing some of those…and more. “We’re talking about a Gumby thing, we’re talking about a Buckwheat thing, and I told you a Bill Cosby thing maybe, it’ll be very funny,” he told Roker. We’re guessing that holiday episode sketch is gonna be more naughty than nice. —Gerrad Hall

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What Else to Watch

6 p.m.
Christmas Love Letter — Lifetime

8 p.m.
Christmas Hotel — Lifetime
Double Holiday — Hallmark
Steven Universe — Cartoon Network

9 p.m.
Christmas on My Mind — Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
Ultimate Hanukkah Challenge — Food Network

SUNDAY

Mr. Robot

HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on USA

Series Finale
Goodbye, friend. After four seasons of hacking, killing, and award-winning, Mr. Robot is signing off with a two-hour series finale. We won’t even try to catch you up to what’s currently going on (honestly, we’re trying to figure it out ourselves), but there is still plenty left to be tied up considering last week’s penultimate episode left all of us asking, “WTF?” —Derek Lawrence

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What Else to Watch

7 p.m.
Christmas Wedding Runaway — UPtv

8 p.m.
The Price Is Right at Night: A Holiday Extravaganza With the Cast of SEAL Team — CBS
The Christmas Caroler Challenge (back-to-back episodes) — The CW
A Date By Christmas Eve — Lifetime
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas — Hallmark
Dublin Murders — Starz
Kids Say the Darndest Things — ABC
Ray Donovan — Showtime
The Real Housewives of Atlanta — Bravo

9 p.m.
A Home for the Holidays With Idina Menzel — CBS
A Family Christmas Gift — Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
Shameless — Showtime

10 p.m.
The L Word: Generation Q — Showtime

*times are ET and subject to change